GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The man convicted of stabbing a bartender and then fatally stabbing another man in Green Bay last year was sentenced to life in prison.
In court Friday, Judge John Zakowski said Wesley Brice, 24, may be eligible for parole in about 79.5 years.
Brice was convicted in October after pleading no contest to five counts, including first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree reckless endangering safety, for the March 15, 2021 incidents on Green Bay’s west side.
During Friday’s sentencing, Judge Zakowski said the punishment must fit the crimes.
“And so Wesley, you’re not going to get out of prison, but you know what? You’re going to have a better life than you had before. You’re going to be sober. You’re going to be able to do some positive things and you’ll be able to communicate with your family, which is more than [victim’s name] is going to be able to do with his. That’s the irony of a sentencing in this type of case.”
According to the criminal complaint, Brice entered Rockabilly’s bar and started talking with Jamie Grunwald, a bartender. After Grunwald told him to leave, Brice dragged her into a bathroom and stabbed her before she was able to get away.
Moments later, police responded to a vehicle on Broadway, where a man was found with five stab wounds, including one to the chest.
A witness said Brice punched out a window in the vehicle, then stabbed the victim, age 70.
When police arrived, Brice was near the vehicle, “shouting things like, he is the real God” and then was placed into custody.
“As officers brought Wesley over to the squad car, he was not making coherent sentences and was saying, ‘I am God.’ Other officers on scene then secured Wesley in the squad car. Officers had the windows rolled down and could hear Wesley still making statements that did not make any sense. Wesley then began repeating his name over and over again saying, ‘Wesley James Brice, Wesley James Brice.’ It was clear to officers on scene that Wesley was in some sort of excited mental state and did not know what was going on,” the complaint states.
After being taken to the hospital, Brice was more coherent and said he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He also “mentioned that he wanted officers to kill him and he did say that he wanted to die,” the complaint states.
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